Barcode scanners are well known for their usefulness in identifying products. Barcode scanners may be equipped with add-on (internal or external in the checkout stand) radio frequency identification (RFID) tag readers, but barcode label and RFID tag reading zones do not coincide, resulting in operator confusion as to item placement. Further, finding space for a RFID tag reader antenna is a challenge.
It would be desirable to better integrate RFID tag readers with barcode scanners and provide better overlap between barcode label and RFID tag reading zones.